The Simple Secret to Wowing Recruiters

The Simple Secret to Wowing Recruiters Convincing people  you are the perfect candidate for the role  can be particularly nerve-racking and difficult. In trying to come off as extremely qualified, we sometimes stumble over our answers, repeat ourselves or simply draw a blank and sit in silence. In our attempt to impress, its easy to forget what really makes a difference; self confidence. How positive we feel about ourselves  and our abilities is key to making a lasting impression on  recruiters. Confidence  begins with understanding  what you want out of your career,  and maintaining an open mind for the future. Its important you sell yourself to a recruiter, after all, they are the gatekeeper to your shot at your dream role. Heres how to get started: Know yourself When career counselors assess patients to understand their goals in an effort to identify the right type of job for them, they typically begin by having patients take a simple personality test. Tests such as these can help to rule out positions that you are likely to dislike. For instance, the type of career you will be passionate about will change significantly if you are not the type of person that can sit for long periods of time or that doesn’t work well in large groups. In addition to gaining a basic knowledge of broad aspects of a job you will like and dislike it is important to assess yourself and take into account the more minor details.  Do you like working in offices with open floor plans or with cubicles? Can you work better with managers that provide little feedback or that are highly involved? Would you rather work with things or with people? Do you need a flexible lunch break? Apply this knowledge How  does answering all of these questions for yourself help to impress recruiters? Firstly, being in tune with exactly what you want  will  help you to narrow down which positions are best suited to you, and equip you with great certainty that the job is perfect for both your career aspirations and your work style.   Secondly, you will find interview questions easier to both answer and ask. When the recruiter asks how you feel about certain workplace situations you will most likely have already thought about it you know yourself well enough to know that a position with an open floor plan will only work if you are allowed to wear headphones. Of course, this sets you up to ask your own interview questions about the office space, employee experience, etc.   Keep an open mind Finally, as you assess yourself for careers and identify a number of potential opportunities,  be sure to keep an open mind about the types of jobs that are suggested. Often we are blinded by  salary or a predetermined set of criteria that may or may not be essential for us to be happy; we frequently rule out our passions. Interviewing for a job that you feel passionate about is going to make the biggest difference in your confidence regardless of what you originally expected.  If you love your job in healthcare,  but can’t stand the hospital any longer, try incorporating other passions of yours, like travel.  Public health officials often move into mobile positions that send them to different locations. Yes, recruiters are looking for talent and skill, but they are also very interested in finding a person whose confidence sets them apart from everyone else. They want to represent people who know  themselves and what they want out of a career. Building confidence through self-evaluation and an open mind in the job market are the first steps  to making it happen. About the author: Brittni Brown is a graduate student at the University of Idaho, and a budding freelance writer.

What Can You Do with an Art Degree

What Can You Do with an Art Degree If youre the kind of person who loves the creative side of life, then you might have decided to pursue an art degree as part of your higher education plan. Whether you chose to specialise in photography, graphic design, or animation, its safe to say that art plays a part in countless lives across the world. The good news is that if youre worried about becoming one of those starving artists you hear about online, you neednt be. There are plenty of careers out there for the artistic individual, and here were going to look at just some of the things you can do with your education. Become an Art Critic If your creative side extends into the realms of the written word, then you might be suited to a career as an art critic. Critics are artistic experts and writers who write in-depth articles about local artworks for magazines, newspapers, and websites. You should have plenty of intensive knowledge about the art industry by the time youve finished your degree, so youre sure to find plenty of ways to express yourself when you encounter a new masterpiece. Curate Art for a Local Store Art curators are experts that manage facilities like stores and museums. Often, these professionals will specialise in a specific subject matter. For instance, while some will be connoisseurs of fine art, others will search for unique pieces of urban work for graffiti shops. As a curator, youll need to buy, store, and showcase collections, so a degree in management or business can be helpful here too. Teach Art to Ambitious Students Just as your art teacher might have motivated you to pursue a career in the creative world, you can do the same thing for other aspiring students. Art teachers come in a range of different styles, all the way from advanced teachers who provide lectures at a college level, to teachers for younger students who simply want to help people explore colour and texture for the first time. Art teachers can also specialise in certain topics like graphic design, ceramics, woodwork, and more. Sell Fine Art to Collectors If youve got a quick mind and youre good with people, then you can always put your skills to use as a fine art salesperson. These professionals earn a living by selling paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures to collectors and members of the public. As a retailer, you can either launch your own business selling collections that catch your eye or work under a gallery or retail company.  Your education in art will help you to earn employment from higher-end boutiques, and well-paying managers. Art Therapist Finally, if your love of art is almost as powerful as your desire to help people live healthier and happier lives, then you could pursue a career as an art therapist. These unique experts use their skills and the creative process to help individuals to deal with a broad range of mental health issues. To truly excel in this space, youll need not just a good understanding of art, but also an education that includes instruction on counselling, human development, and therapy. A masters degree in art therapy will be crucial to getting a good position in the field.

70+ Best SQL MySQL Interview Questions To Hire Or Get Hired With - Algrim.co

70+ Best SQL MySQL Interview Questions To Hire Or Get Hired With - Algrim.co SQL is the computer programming language often used in the design of retrieving and writing data to a database. Often it used in MySQL, SQLLite, Postgres or any of the other table-oriented databases. As a computer programmer looking to get employed, you will be required to know a firm understanding of SQL. It is the backbone to any backend engineering or programming. Without this skill set it will be difficult to create any type of product, as most information on the web or even through iOS sends API hooks that eventually write information to a database. In this regard, this is in the top three for required skills in order to achieve getting employment in a software development organization. Below are 70 of the best SQL interview questions that should help you to either employ someone or be employed by an organization. You can use the below questions to study and help you prepare for interviews. Or you can use the below questions in your interview process and help move along yo ur candidates more efficiently in the process. MySQL is one of the most popular databases in the past 30 years. It has been a cornerstone to most innovations that exist on the web. Only up until recently, in the past 7 years, have other database types been more widely adopted. And even then, there's some debate as to whether MySQL is still more effective in terms of scalability and reliability. 1. What is SQL? The term SQL is short for Structured Query Language. SQL refers to a standard language used to carry out among other tasks; insertion, updating, retrieval and deletion of data in the data. Ideally, it can be said that SQL’s main role is to communicate with the database. 2. What does DBMS refer to in SQL? DBMS which is short for Data Management System is a program creates and maintains the use of a database. In other words, DBMS can also be termed as a File Manager that is involved in data management in a database as opposed to saving data the data in file systems. 3. In SQL, what is a database? This is a collection of organized data for easy access, storage, and retrieval. It can also be referred to as structured data format that can be accessed in different ways. Examples of a database include: Bank Management Database and School Management Database. 4. Name the different types of SQL commands SQL commands are categorized in the following types; • DDL â€" Data Definition Language • DML â€" Data Manipulation Language • DQL â€" Data Query Language • DCL â€" Data Control Language • TCL â€" Transaction Control Language 5. In SQL, explain the role of DDL commands and in what different commands are there. In SQL, DDL commands define or alter the structure of a database. There are several different DDL commands namely; • CREATE-creates databases and database objects • ALTER-alters existing database and objects • DROP-drops databases and databases objects • TRUNCATE-removes all records from the table but does not change the structure of the database • RENAME-renames database objects 6. In SQL, explain the role of DML commands and name the commands. DML commands are used to manage data present in the database. DML commands in SQL are; • SELECT-selects specific data from the database • INSERT-inserts a new record into the table • UPDATE-updates the existing records • DELETE-deletes existing records from a table 7. In SQL, Which are the DCL commands and what is their role? The role of DCL commands is to create roles as well as grant permission to the database objects. There are three DCL commands in SQL namely; • GRANT-provides user access • DENY-denies user access • REVOKE-removes user access 8. In SQL, which are the TCL commands and what is their role? The role of TCL commands is to manage changes made by DML statements. There are two main TCL commands namely in SQL namely; • COMMIT-writes and stores changes in the database • ROLLBACK-restores the databases since the last commit 9. What is the function of the Index in SQL? The index speeds up the performance of queries by making faster the process of data retrieval from the table. The index can either be created on a single column or a group of columns. 10. What are the major differences between DELETE and TRUNCATE DELETE Used to delete rows in a table After deleting a statement, you can rollback data It is a DML command It is slower compared to the truncate statement TRUNCATE Used to delete all the rows in a column It is not possible to rollback data It is a DDL command It is faster than the DELETE command 11. In SQL, what is meant by table and field? A table refers to a collection of data that is organized in form of rows and columns whereas a filed refers to the specific number of rows and columns in a table. A classic example of how information appears in a table and field is below. Table: Student Information • Field: Stu Id, Stu Name, Stu Marks 12. In SQL, what does the term joins refer to Join clauses are used to combine rows from several tables. There are 4 joins in SQL namely; • Inner Join • Right Join • Left Join • Full Join 13. In SQL, what is the main difference between CHAR and VARCHAR2 data type? Whereas both CHAR and VARCHAR2 are used in the storage of character strings, Char is for strings of fixed lengths while Varchar2 is used for strings with variable lengths. A practical example of how the two work is that char (10) is only able to store 10 characters and cannot take any more or less of that number. On the other hand, varchar2 (10) can store any length that does not exceed 10 that is an even number such as 2, 4, 6 and 8. 14. In SQL, what is a Primary key? This is a single column or a collection of columns that uniquely identifies individual rows in a table. However, null values are not allowed during the identification process. 15. In SQL, what are constraints? Constraints specify the limit or data type of the table. This specification takes place during the creation or alteration of the table statement. The common constraints are; • NOT NULL • CHECK • DEFAULT • UNIQUE • PRIMARY KEY • FOREIGN KEY 16. What is the main difference between SQL and MySQL? SQL is a standard language that stands for Structured Query Language. MySQL, on the other hand, is a data management system whereas SQL operates as the core relational database used to access and manages the database, MySQL is a Relational Database Management System (RDMS) that include SQL, Informix, and Server. 17. What is meant by data integrity in SQL? Data consistency refers to the accuracy and consistency of data stored in a database. The term also refers to integrity constraints to enforce the rules of the business when data is entered into a database or application. 18. Name the three types of indices in SQL • Unique index-this index helps in the maintenance of data integrity by making sure that key values are not replicated in more than a single row. This means that no two rows should have identical key values. The unique index comes into application immediately after the primary key has been identified. The index ensures that the values of each index key column are unique. • Clustered Index-This index reorders the physical order of a table and ensures the search is based on the key values. There can only be one clustered index for each table at any given time. • Non-Clustered Index-this type of index does not maintain a logical order of the data by not altering the physical order of the table. There can be several non-clustered indices in a single table. 19. What is meant by De-normalization in SQL? This is a technique used to access data from a lower form to a higher form in a database. One of the benefits of Denormalization is that the process helps database managers increase the performance of the entire database infrastructure by introducing redundancy into a table. The redundant data is added to a table through the incorporation of data queries that combine data from several tables into a single table. 20. What are Entities and Relationships in SQL? Entities-In the real world, an entity refers to a person, place or something but in SQL; an entity refers to that where data can be stored in a database. An example of an entity in SQL is a table. For examples, bank databases have tables that contain customer information. This information is stored in form of a set of attributes-further divided into rows within the table, for each customer. Relationships-Relationships are links between entities that are interrelated. For example, in the case of a bank database, the name of the customer is linked to his/her account number and contact information. This information will always appear in the same table. However, there can also be a relationship between data in separate tables. For example, the customer’s name can be stored in one table while the account number appears in a different table. 22. What are the advantages of Normalization? • More efficient data access • Better organization of the database • Greater flexibility easier security implementation • Reduced redundancy and data duplication • Improved data consistency after modification • Increased ease of modification • Reduced data retrieval time 23. Name the three operators available in SQL There are three main operators in SQL namely; • Arithmetic Operators • Logical Operators • Comparison Operators 24. Are NULL values similar to those of zero or blank space? NULL values are not the same as zero or blank values. This is because in SQL, the term NULL refers to a value that is unavailable, assigned, unknown or not applicable. However, zero is an arithmetic number while blank space in a digital character. 25. In SQL, what is a sub-query? A subquery refers to a query that is inside another query where the outer query is referred to as the main query. During the process of data retrieval, subqueries are first to be executed and the results passed on to the main query. Subqueries are nested in SELECT, UPDATE and other queries in SQL. A subquery also uses comparison operators such as >, 26. How many types of sub-queries are available in SQL and what is their role? • Sub-queries are found in two different types, Correlated and Non-Correlated sub-queries. • Correlated sub-query- These queries select data referenced from a table in the outer query. The correlated sub-query is considered to be a dependent query as it has to refer to a different table. • Non-Correlated sub-query-this query is independent based on the fact that the output in the sub-query is substituted in the main query. 27. In SQL, name the different transaction controls. A transaction is a sequence task that is performed in a database in a logical manner in order to come up with the desired results. Some common tasks performed by transactions are, creating, updating and deleting records. In simple terms, a transaction is a group of SQL queries executed on database records. 28. There are four main transaction controls namely; • COMMIT-used for saving all the changes made through the transaction • ROLLBACK-used in rolling back the transaction and specifically by reverting back any changes made by the transaction hence the database remains as it was before. • SET TRANSACTIONS-sets the name of the transaction • SAVEPOINT-sets the point from where the transaction needs to be set back. 29. What are the properties of the transaction? A transaction has four different properties namely; • Atomicity-ensures that all transactions are completed and if the process is not successfully completed, it is aborted at the point of failure and the previous transaction rolled back to its original state. • Isolation-Ensures that all transactions take place independently and that any changes effected by one transaction are not reflected in a different one. • Durability-Ensures that any changes made after a transaction persists even in the event of a systems failure. 30. How many Aggregate Functions does SQL have? In SQL, there are 7 Aggregate Functions namely: • AVG (): Returns the average value from columns • COUNT () - Returns number of rows in a table • MAX () - Returns largest value among records • MIN () - Returns smallest value in records • SUM ()-Returns the sum of values in a column • FIRST () - Returns the first value • LAST () - Returns Last value 31. What are the Scalar Functions and what role do they play in SQL? Scalar Functions return a single value based on the Input Values. There are 6 Scalar Functions in SQL namely: • UCASE () - Converts a specified field in upper case • LCASE () - Converts a specified field in lower case • MID ()-Extracts & returns characters from the text field • FORMAT () - Specifies the display format • LEN () - Specifies text field’s length • ROUND ()-Rounds up into a number the decimal field value. 32. What is View in SQL? View is the term that refers to a virtual table with both rows and columns and fields from one or more tables. Syntax: CREATE VIEW view_name AS SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE condition 32. How many types of privileges are there in SQL? There are two main types of privileges in SQL namely; • Systems Privilege-This deals with a particular type of object that specifies the right action or actions to be performed which can include a user being given administrative tasks. Examples of system privileges are; ALTER ANY INDEX, ALTER ANY CACHE GROUP CREATE/ALTER/DELETE TABLE, CREATE/ALTER/DELETE VIEW etc. • Objective Privileges: object privileges perform actions on an object or objects of another user. Common types of objective privileges include; EXECUTE INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, SELECT, FLUSH LOAD, INDEX, and REFERENCES etc. 33. In SQL server, what is referred to as SQL Sandbox? • SQL Sandbox is the location where untrusted scripts are executed in an SQL Server environment. There are three types of SQL Sandboxes namely; • Safe Access Sandbox-in this, a user can be able to perform actions such as creating triggers and stored procedures. However, they cannot gain access to the memory nor create files. • External Access Sandbox-In this, users are given access to the files but can make any changes with regards to memory allocation. • Unsafe Access Sandbox-This is where the untrusted codes are stored and users have access to the memory. 34. What is the difference between SQL and PL/SQL? SQL stands for Structured Language Query that creates and accesses databases while PL/SQL refers to the procedural concepts of programming language. 35. What is referred to as Data Control Language in SQL? Data Control Language is a subset of a database that makes the decision regarding what part of the database should be accessed and at which point in time should the access be granted. In general, data control language allows the user to control access to the database. There are two commands in data control language namely; • GRANT-grants specific user access to perform a task in the database • REVOKE-Cancels previously granted or denied permissions. 36. What is the difference between DROP and TRUNCATE? • TRUNCATE removes all rows from a table and after the removal with no option of retrieval while DROP removes an entire table from the database with no optional of retrieval. 37. What is referred to as Normalization? Normalization organizes data in such a way that redundancy should not occur in the database as well as ensuring that insert, update and delete anomalies do not occur. 38. How many forms of Normalization are there? • First Normal Form (1NF) - removes all duplicate columns from a table. In addition, the first normal form creates a table for related data and identifies unique column values. • First Normal Form (2NF)-creates and places data subsets into individual tables. In addition, it defines the relationship between tables using the primary key. • Third Normal Form (3NF)-Removes unrelated columns through the product key • Fourth Normal Form (4NF) - does not define multi-valued dependencies. 39. What is Stored Procedures and what is it used for? This is a collection of SQL statements used as a function to access the database. Stored procedures are also used to improve performance by reducing network traffic. Syntax: CREATE Procedure Procedure_Name ( //Parameters ) AS BEGIN SQL statements in stored procedures to update/retrieve records END 40. What are some of the properties of Relational Databases? • Each column in a relational database should have a unique name. • The sequence of rows and columns in insignificant • Each row is unique and all values are atomic in relational databases 41. What is a Cursor in SQL? This is a database object used to manipulate data in a row-to-row manner. A cursor follows the following steps; • Declare Cursor • Open Cursor • Retrieve row from the Cursor • Process the row • Close Cursor • Deallocate Cursor 42. What is Collation in SQL? This is a set of rules that compares data to check how it has been sorted. An example of this is Character data that is stored using the correct character sequence along with type, accent and case sensitivity. 43. What does Database White Box testing involve? • Database Consistency and ACID properties • Database triggers and logical views • Decision Coverage, Condition Coverage, and Statement Coverage • Database Tables, Data Model, and Database Schema • Referential integrity rules 44. What does Database Black Box testing involve? • Data Mapping • Data stored and retrieved • Use of Black Box techniques such as Boundary Value Analysis (BVA) and Equivalence Partitioning 45. What are Indices in SQL? Thus is a way of retrieving data more quickly. Using CREATE statements; indices can be created using the following syntaxes. Syntax: CREATE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name) Syntax: CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_name ON table_name (column_name) What is the syntax that adds a record to a table? The INSERT syntax is used to add a record to a table Ex: INSERT into table_name VALUES (value1, value2..); 46. What is the difference between local and global variances? Local variables are used and exist inside a function and can be created whenever a function is called. Local variables are not known to any other function. Global variables are used and exist throughout the program. Similar variables already declared in global cannot be used in any other functions. It is not possible to create global variables whenever that function is called. 47. In SQL, what is referred to as Constraint? A constraint is used to refer to the limit on the data type of a table. 8. What is Auto Increment in SQL? Auto Increment allows users to create a unique number that is generated after the insertion of a new record into a table. AUTO INCREMENT keyword can only be used on an Oracle database while IDENTITY keywords can be used in an SQL Server. In most cases, this keyword is used whenever the PRIMARY KEY is used. 49. What is referred to as a Data-warehouse in SQL? A Data-warehouse in SQL is the nerve center of data received from multiple sources of information. This data is consolidated, transformed and made available for mining and online processing. Data in a Data-warehouse is stored in subsets called Data Marts. 50. What are user-defined functions in SQL? User-defined functions in SQL are functions that are designed to use logic whenever required. It is not a necessity that the same logic be written several times but rather, user-functions can be executed whenever needed. 51. What the main types of user-defined functions? • Scalar Functions. • Inline Table valued functions. • Multi statement valued functions. 52. What is referred to as Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) in SQL? OLTP in SQL is involved in the management of transaction-based applications used for among other activities; data retrieval and processing. Ideally, OLTP makes data management more efficient. OLTP systems primary objective is to serve real-time transactions. 53. What are the advantages of Stored Procedure in SQL? Stored procedure can be used as modular programming-meaning that it can be created, stored and called to action whenever the need arises. The benefit of this is that there is faster execution of queries thereby reducing network traffic as well as providing better data security. The downside of stored procedure is that it can only be executed in the Database and utilizes a lot of memory in the database server. 54. What is a CLAUSE is SQL? A Clause is designed to set a limitation by providing a condition to a query or a set of queries. This is mostly done by filtering some rows from the whole set of records. Example- â€" Query that has WHERE condition Query that has HAVING condition 55. What is an ALIAS command in SQL? ALIAS can be used to describe a table or a column in SQL. It can also be used to refer to identify a table or a column in a WHERE clause. Example Select st.StudentID, Ex.Result from student st, Exam as Ex where st.studentID = Ex. StudentID 56. What us Union, Minus and Interact commands in SQL? • UNION-used to combine the results from two different tables and eliminates duplicate rows from the tables. • MINUS-this operator returns rows from the first query but not those from the second query. • INTERSECT- this operator returns rows from both queries. 57. Differentiate between Aggregate and Scalar functions Aggregate functions evaluate mathematical calculations and produce the results as single values. The calculations are done from table columns. Scalar functions on the other hand return single values based on the input value. Example Aggregate â€" max(), count - Calculated with respect to numeric. Scalar â€" UCASE(), NOW() â€" Calculated with respect to strings. 58. Differentiate between Union and Union All command • Union-omits duplicate records by returning only distinct results set for more than one select statement. • Union All-returns all rows including the ones duplicated in a result set of a different select statement. 59. Which is faster between Union and Union All queries and why? Union All is faster than Union as it doesn’t remove duplicate records. Union query has to check duplicate values which take a little bit of time to remove. 60. In SQL, what is Self-Join? Self-join is a join where a table is joined with itself, especially if the said table has a Foreign Key that references its own Primary Key. 61. How can you get unique records from a table? By using the DINSTINCT keyword 62. What is the main difference between GUI Testing and Database Testing? • GUI Testing is a Front-end or User-interface testing while Database testing is a back-end testing or data testing. • GUI Testing deals with items that can be tested and are open to users such as Menus and Forms whereas Database Testing deals with items that cannot be accessed by the user. • A user performing GUI Testing is not required to know Structured Query Language (SQL) while a person performing Database Testing is required to have SQL knowledge. 63. Name the different types of indices in SQL • Unique Index • Clustered Index • Non-Clustered Index • Bit-Map index • Normal index • Composite index • B-tree index • Function based index 64. Which are the most used SQL joins? The most used joins in SQL are INNER JOIN and LEFT OUTER JOIN and RIGHT OUTER JOIN. 65. What do you understand by the term case manipulation functions?” These are functions that convert data from the format already installed in the table to upper, lower or mixed case. Case manipulation function is used in almost every aspect of the SQL statement. Case manipulation functions are also used to for data when you have no idea whether the data you are searching for is in the lower or the upper case. 66. Name the case manipulation functions available in SQL • UPPER: converts characters into uppercase. • LOWER: converts characters into Lowercase. • INITCAP: converts character values to uppercase for the initials of each word. 67. In SQL, what do you understand by character manipulation? Character manipulation in SQL is used to change, extract or alter the character string. Ideally, when one or more characters are passed through the character manipulation function, the functions performed on these words. 68. Name the different character manipulation functions in SQL • CONCAT: joins two or more values. • SUBSTR: used to extract the string of specific length. • LENGTH: return the length of the string in numerical value. • INSTR: finds the exact numeric position of a specified character. • LPAD: padding of the left-side character value for right-justified value. • RPAD: padding of right-side character value for left-justified value. • TRIM: removes all the defined character from the beginning, end or both beginning and end. • REPLACE: replaces a specific sequence of character with other sequences of character. 69. Name the different types of joins in SQL Since joins are used to merge and retrieve data from two tables. The common types of joins in SQL are; • Inner Join- there are three types of inner joins namely; • Theta join • Natural join • Equijoin • Outer Join-the type of outer joins are; • Right outer join • Left outer join • Full outer join 70. Name the difference between SQL, MySQL and SQL Server SQL denotes the Structured Query Language that is used to communicate with a relational database by providing a way to manipulate data and create databases. MySQL and SQL-Server, on the other hand, are relational database management systems that primarily use SQL as their standard database language. In addition, MySQL is an open source system hence available for free while SQL is not an open source software application. 71. In SQL what is meant by “Trigger” These are a special type of procedures that are stored and only executed automatically after the data has been modified or in place of data modification. In simple terms, Trigger allows the user to execute a batch of code when using queries such as insert or update against a specific table. 72. Name the different types of collation sensitivity • Case Sensitivity â€" A and a and B and b. • Accent Sensitivity • Kana Sensitivity â€" Japanese Kana characters. • Width Sensitivity â€" Single-byte character and double-byte character. Being prepared The normal hiring process for engineers is go through a verbal interview process and then proceed to these types of technical questions. You may experience these questions being asked to you either virtually, through a pair-programming session, where you and one of the previously hired engineers go through a process that requires you to use or answer the types of questions and skills above. Or in other circumstances, you may be asked to answer these types of questions in front of a whiteboard or chalkboard. Where another accompanying engineer may ask you to write on the whiteboard your SQL query answering the subject matter he/she inquired about. Be prepared to have some type of interaction that is above the verbal level. Sharing your insight It can always be quite helpful to share projects or previous engagements where you'd had the opportunity to use SQL/MySQL/Postgres or other. In this sense, think of it as sharing your portfolio. You'll want to walk through what the project was, what your responsibilites were inside the project, what hiccups or errors occured (so what went well and what went not so well) and ultimately the insight that you gleemed from the whole initaitive start to finish. I've found this can be quite helpful in not only making yourself stand out as a distinguishable figure (becasue you are using storytelling to your advantage) but you are also proving your experience and showing your communication skills as an engineer, which helps tremendously. Sharing any type of insight you have about SQL/MySQL/Postgres can be quite helpful. That includes industry knowledge or changes in functionality as well as comparisons against competetive products or databases which you can verbally debate. Footnote As with any of the interview questions pages, I employ you to please email me if you have additional questions that you would like listed or if you see any mistakes that can easily be cleaned up. This resource is vital for those looking to find employment as well as those looking to vet candidates in a professional engineering position.

How to manage your online brand

How to manage your online brand Melissa broke up with her boyfriend. Thank god, because I never liked him. I have never liked any of her boyfriends, and the most unlikable of her boyfriends would say Im overbearing and jealous. I would say I just have a good eye for men. Heres the summary of Melissas love life in twitter-short  snippets. College boyfriend who emerges  semi-regularly to have insanely expensive dinners and violent  sex that should only exist in the sophomoric porn videos he saw it in. Tokyo boyfriend who I think was her boss. Not that women should not date their boss, but like most in this situation, Melissa got fired. Farm visitor who I suspected right away to be a cad, but I thought maybe he could redesign my web site. I didnt let him sleep in Melissas bedroom because what would I tell my kids? He agreed. Told Melissa hed be back in a week.  Then he was gone forever. A guy in Austin who got her an engagement ring and then let his mother do the wedding planning. Also, he remodeled his house and put in cheap windows without asking Melissa first. Im not sure which was worse, but in any case, Melissa left him. But she needed someone to carry the big pieces of  furniture out. So she asked his best friend to do the heavy lifting and when they got the sofa to her new apartment, they put it in the corner and made out on it. I did not like this latest boyfriend. Though I tried to like him because I know thats what good friends do when their friend is in a serious relationship. I told myself hes a good guy. But then Id realize that hes more a good guy for someone who is not Melissa. The  details of how she finally saw that he was better for someone else are these: He is an ISTJ, so his interests are narrow, covering only those things he is an expert in. Melissa and I are interested in everything. We will make judgments based on nothingwe dont carewe will still think we are right. Melissas employee Dana should marry the ISTJ. Dana is an ENFJ and she needs someone who will make money so she can focus on being a great caretaker, and the ISTJ needs a good caretaker, and Melissa is a lot of things, but not that. So Melissa dumped  the ISTJ. And now she is worried that you will all think shes a loser. I told her she would look like a loser if everyone thought her life was perfect. Anyone can look pathetic and insecure trying to convey a perfect life.  The rules of managing your personal brand are deeper than just be perfect and funny, which is why Melissa is so likable online. Rule 1:  The most attractive attribute of a personal brand is self-knowledge. So get some.   While she was breaking up with the ISTJ, Melissa decided she wants kids. Melissa has been absolutely 100% against having kids for the last ten years.  Shed send me articles and tell me to write about them, but heres  what I know about women who choose not to have kids: They are INFJs who always end up having kids in their 30s, They had terrible childhoods and cant imagine themselves as good parents with no good role model, which means they are not actually choosing not to have kids as much as they are choosing to continue to  continue living their terrible childhood in adult life, They are too picky about men (because of insecurities) and so they  tell themselves they never found the right guy. They think people who have kids are boring and conventional  but people who worry about becoming boring are actually already boring and they will find this out   too late. Im stopping here  but I could go on and on (and Im sure Ill argue with you in the comments) because what I want to say is that I always knew Melissa would want kids, eventually. But Melissa deciding to want kids now is an emergency because Melissa is 30. And by now most of you know  my mathematical thinking about babies. Her clock is ticking and men dont like dating women with biological clocks that are ready to explode. Its too much pressureno wonder OK Cupid found that men want to date women who are 28. Rule 2: Be strategic.  Its your life so dont let it just happen. I wanted to make a plana list of the attributes Melissa is looking forwhich means we need a picture of the life she is trying to get. Melissa resisted. She consulted the (mysteriously very talkative) INTJ group that goes along with the INTJ course. The group is extremely active  (probably because INTJs think everyone is stupid except INTJs and they rarely find other INTJs). So of course they said Im approaching dating like an ENTJ. ENTJs are too goal-oriented, they said. WTF?? Is there another way to date? Is there another way to function when you are 30 and want kids? I wanted to know what the INTJs came up withwhat is their non-goal-oriented dating plan? Melissa wouldnt tell me. But I was like, I dont even care. Dont call me with reports for any of your dates because its stupid. How do we know if they are good or bad dates if we dont even know the KPIs? We didnt  talk for a week while, presumably, she went  on a million dates. Or emailed with a million people. I dont even know what she was doing. But she called. She found the guy. I told her I had to go to the gym. Rule 3:  Surround yourself with people who make you better. She made  me talk to her at the gym. He is an ENTP.  Melissa brings this up early in our conversation because she knows a good way to keep me in the game is to tell me a personality type. I am happy. Our favorite course was the one for  ENTPs. They are fun and will talk about anything. The good-friend worry I should have for her is about how ENTPs have a hard time working for people. But this  guy somehow affords a  three-bedroom apartment in San Francisco. So its a non-issue. He is  not Jewish but he  has so many Jewish friends that hes able to make references that Melissathe most secular Jew in the worlddoes not understand. So she found a non-Jew more Jewish than her. Melissa likes him so much that instead of doing incompetent, Asperger dating, she is calling neuro-typical friends to find out how to follow dating rules that regular people know instinctively. She does not like the rules and largely ignores them, but shes trying. Thats how I know hes important to her. Rule 4:  Fail in public. A lot. That makes you real.   Hes so important that she wants to edit this post about her finding him. She never cared enough to ask to edit other posts. I tell her forget it. I tell her she is lovable because she  is vulnerable  in public, and she  keeps trying over and over again. People dont want to be close to people who live in a perfect dreamland. There are all these people writing about how they are not doing Instagram any more because its fake. Doing all the beautiful pictures makes them do fake things. But why? You can be engaging and beautiful and yet still focus  on the terribleness of life. Dorothea Lange. Walker Evans. People like grit. People like being scared for the subject. Even Georgia OKeeffe had to paint flowers that made you scared they were about to have their period. Rule 5:  Let yourself grow and changebe a hypocrite.   So this post is Melissas gorgeous life. Its also Melissas brave life. She always thinks shes going to get married with each new guy. But so far, she hasnt. She was militant about not having children and now shes not. And she was dying to grow her recruiting business and now she only wants to start a family. We all change our minds. We all grow. The brand we should show online, where prospective mates can see, is of someone willing to change and grow and contradict ourselves. Thats the life worth living, a lifetime of learning and growth.

Stay Relevant in your Career with Online Learning

Stay Relevant in your Career with Online Learning Photo Credit â€" Pexels.comAll careers require you to keep learning.evalSome are mandated by law or employer Finally, there are few websites that offer lessons in the form of podcasts or videos. Some of these cover traditional classroom topics, others include relevant topics to today’s social climate.Khanacademy.org â€" uses mini lectures and interactive problems to teach subjects. Each lessons builds on the previous as you progress. Kahnacademy.org teaches a variety of topics at different age levels including mathematics, history, science. If you like the idea of learning in short bursts, Khan Academy is the right resource for you.iTunesU â€" easily accessible with any Apple device. It includes courses on a wide range of topics which are categorized similarly to iTunes. Easy to use and access. Cons include that paid courses are mingled with the free courses and it doesn’t integrate with non-apple mobile devices.Ted.com â€" this website is a collection of talks, usually 20 minu tes or less on a wide range of topics, from influential speakers and thinkers. Great way to hear new ideas and views of people who are shaping our world.Whether you are a plumber, a teacher or a business person, ongoing education is a major part of your career success. Even though the cost of a college education keeps escalating, you can still get the education that you need through free or low-cost online education sites. You just have to be dedicated to learning and setting aside the time to do it.

Ask the CHO Who has a right to complain - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Ask the CHO Who has a right to complain - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Jill read my post about why constant complaining is so toxic in the workplace and then experienced a moment of synchronicity: I broadly agree with your post, except that, well, right after reading it, my feed reader served up a post from another blogger I enjoy reading called ?The Right to Complain?. She and I are both academics, and there?s certainly a culture among many academics to complain about the system we?re in. I?ve found your blog, among others, helpful in trying to figure out what it is that I?m not happy about in my job, and what I am happy about, and which things, if any, I want to change. Anyway, coming just after each other like that, two posts on complaining that argue very differently. Dr. Crazy argues that academic jobs are extremely difficult, because of the large investment in time and money you?ve put into getting there (thank you Norway for better funding), the large amount of ?invisible? work that goes into research, publishing, administration etc, and your lack of choice in where you live, among other things (I?m lucky, I work where I want to live). Yet people tend to think it?s a cushy job, ?you only work 12 hours a week?! (that?s the classroom hours). If you have time, I?d love to hear your opinion after reading her post. Could there be a kind of complaining that?s not directed to someone like the boss, but well, with an idea that perhaps one should complain to the people who can change things, and those people are sometimes yourself and your colleagues? Thanks for the link, Jill. That is indeed two very different views on complaining at least at first glance. I agree with Dr. Crazy that we all have the right to complain. Its not like I can tell anyone else that their problems are not worthy of complaining about because what seems a molehill to me might well be a mountain to them and vice versa. In fact, if you want to increase workplace complaining, all you need to do is to tell people not to complain because their problems are so trivial they have no right to complain. Thatll get them complaining for sure :o) So its not really about whether or not we have a right to complain (if somethingss wrong, you have the right) its about how we choose to complain. As I wrote in my post, I believe that there are two fundamentally ways to go about expressing your dissatisfaction: Constructive and destructive. Broadly speaking, constructive complaining leads to change and destructive complaining leads to more complaining (more here). I also disagree with her assertion that if nobody complained, then nothing would ever change, then none of those sucky things would ever be eradicated. Dissatisfaction and complaining is one way to go about changing things a deep appreciation of what is and a positive desire for the future is another, and in my experience, more effective way of bringing about change. I often refer to this quote by Patch Adams which points to this dilemma: Change that is deeply effective and positive presents a paradoxical challenge. On the one hand, there needs to be an appreciation and acceptance of how things are in the here and now. On the other hand, there needs to be an active intention to make things better. Nothing needs to change, and everything can improve. This is the way to avoid the two extremist traps of activist?s frustration or pessimistic complacency. Patch Adams However I agree totally with Dr. Crazys final statement that if one cant bitch on a blog, where exactly can one bitch? :o) Its like blogs were made for it. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Writing a Resume: Common Mistakes People Make When It Comes to Writing Their Own Resume

Writing a Resume: Common Mistakes People Make When It Comes to Writing Their Own ResumeWriting a resume is very important, but it's even more important when it comes to understanding your own work history. But how do you write a resume for yourself if you don't know where the job took place? Here are some common mistakes people make when it comes to writing their own resume.Let's start with the basic question of how do you write a resume for yourself if you don't know where the job took place? A good way to start is to realize that this is a very personal question and there's no right or wrong answer. There's no right or wrong answers to every question. But in the case of a resume, there's a common misconception that a job position and its address are the only information that matter.Personal information is considered important on a resume. But you can never state or pretend that something is really personal, when it really isn't. It's like saying something is what you feel about you rself and not necessarily what is written. So if you find yourself writing your resume based on the information you think is personal, then change your attitude and approach to writing your resume.It is better to use facts and figures from your experiences to help you decide if you really need to change a position you're happy with. That's because the true answer is always going to be your preference.Speaking of which, another reason why many people don't write their own resumes is that they assume they already know enough about the position and company they're applying for. They assume that all they have to do is look up the company and find out the details of the job. That's the most common mistake and a very common mistake.You have to spend time looking into the company and the job itself, talking to other employees, asking the right questions and learning everything you can about the company before you begin to build your resume. If you don't have enough time to do all of that, you may be better off hiring a professional resume writer.As I mentioned before, the best way to write a resume is to sit down and think about it. Once you've finished that process, you should have a good idea about how you want to present yourself, what you want to convey to a potential employer and how you want your resume to appear.